Champion of Gods
by Zephiranos
Summary: Arnold has been in San Lorenzo for a few Years, when he is granted superpowers by Mayan divinities. He decides to come back to Hillwood and become a super hero, but he has some learning to do on the way, as well as meeting old friends and loved ones again. How will he come with his new self and with his feeling for a certain blonde? Rating might go to M as the story goes on.
1. The Heart

**Champion of Gods**

Arnold has been in San Lorenzo for a few Years, when he is granted superpowers by Mayan divinities. He decides to come back to Hillwood and become a super hero, but he has some learning to do on the way, as well as meeting old friends and loved ones again. How will he come with his new self and with his feeling for a certain blonde? Rating might go to M as the story goes on.

Author's note: Hi everyone, this is my first fanfiction ever, so I hope it turns out OK. We'll see, in the meantime feel free to comment and give some advice (even on my English since I'm french).

enjoy

**Chapter 1: The heart**

_My dear Arnold,_

_Yup it's me...still writing to you again and again. Addiction? May be, but … doi can you blame me?_

_I really miss you Football Head! It's been too long since we last saw each other ( 2 years 10 months and 2 days...yeah I counted) and it really has been a torture (yeah I'm openly nice I know, see how mad I'm getting?!). Anyway, enough mourning for now, I'm sure you want some news..._

_Well Hillwood being Hillwood, nothing much happened since my last letter, no aliens, no earthquake, no explosions, no flooding, in short no fun (surprising isn't it?). Well Miriam is still having her therapy, Bob is still selling cell phones although he also got himself in the computer field and he strangely seems to like it(probably has something to do with money though). Olga is still teaching, but surprisingly she decided to move on and start teaching in Spain! (yeah tell me about climate change...). Well about the 'Gang' as Geraldo called it. What can I say? Gerald and Phoebe are surprisingly still dating,...Eugene and Sheena too, but the big change is: Harold dumped Rhonda for Patty! Wooh there comes the surprise! I mean you should have seen the little princess's look when he did, it was priceless! I know you're thinking that I shouldn't laugh at others misery, but come on Arnoldo, it's Rhonda!... Ah well it's a girl thing, perhaps you won't understand...Anyway, as I told you, this place is a mess without you and your 'look on the bright side' attitude and your little advises. I even had to take a little summer job at Slausen's to have some money, can you imagine how serious the situation is?_

_But may be I could buy you a plane ticket to Hillwood with the money and since it would be a gift, your 'Mr. Goody-two-shoes' side wouldn't refuse it, and you would have to come back here and...Doi me and my crazy schemes! Anyway, I really really hope to see you again anytime soon my dear Football Head. Please write me back quickly or you'll have to face the wrath of Ol' Betsy (that's right)..._

_Well kidding of course but you get the picture..._

_miss you,_

_Helga_

_XXX_

Arnold finished reading the letter with a slight smile. Yup,...Helga was still Helga...

She was right though...It really was a long time since they last saw each other... It was exactly 2 years 10 months and 16 days ago as he, just like Helga, had counted. It nearly had been three years but that part of his life was still vividly present in his memory.

He and Helga had been happily dating for four years, since they had come back from their journey to San Lorenzo, when history repeated itself. An old friend of Arnold's parents had come to Hillwood to ask for help one last time. Arnold had not found the courage to part from his parents again and had decided to go on with the flow and follow them to San Lorenzo. Unfortunately, it also meant that he had to end his relationship with Helga. Telling the gang goodbye hadn't been easy for him, but it was nothing in comparison to telling goodbye to her, and seeing the pained look in her eyes...Of course he kept in touch with her and with the rest of the gang but it wasn't the same, plus, there was always this little chance that she could move on that always scared him...because he hadn't.

But eventually, he had learned to put that thought aside and focus on his work here in the jungle. After all it was the reason they had come here in the first place, to help the green-eyed people in their quest for peace and safety.

This time, Mike and Stella had decided to help them redo the health structure of the village. They'd had to build new buildings, pipes, and were now trying to build a small hospital but it appeared to be more difficult than they expected. They had been working on it for seven months, but where still struggling to have the building done, thanks to the lack of specific tools. And although he loved to help, Arnold couldn't help to wish the construction would come to an end, because for him it meant coming back to Hillwood...

But living in nostalgia wouldn't help him right now, so he folded Helga's letter, got up and put it on his desk. He then took a sheet of paper, a pen, sat in his chair and began to write.

_Dear Helga,_

_I'm glad to read about you again, yeah I don't mind getting letters from you, and I have to admit, the more I get the happier I am...Yes I miss you THAT much._

_But I'm also happy to hear about Hillwood, I miss this town so much you have no idea... But I especially miss each and everyone of you guys, it's like I left a part of me there..._

_Anyway, I'm really happy to know that things are getting a little better in your family because you really deserve a real family Helga...And of course you shouldn't laugh at Rhonda! She must be sad right now, and the right thing would be to comfort her, to help her getting through this. _

_Talking about helping, we really achieved a lot with the green-eyed people here. We created a whole water supply system, because infected water or simply dirty water is the first cause of big epidemics. Anyway we're now trying to build them sort of a "mini hospital" you know. But we're having problems with that since there isn't any electricity here, we have to decide how to do a functional and useful hospital without electricity which is quite hard. But can't wait to have it finished because that would not only help the green-eyed people pretty much, but that would also mean the end of our work here. Ah coming to back to Hillwood would be so wonderful you know...(sigh)_

_But anyway I..._

"ARNOLD!"

Arnold jumped at the shout. He looked up to the entrance of the tempt where a young boy burst in, obviously exited about something.

"Arnold! Here you are! You NEED to come with me!"

"Slow down Pepe!"Arnold replied holding his hands up. "Hold your horses buddy, why do you need me?"

"I want to show you something!" Pepe shouted. "I was walking in the forest and I discovered something and...and you HAVE to see it! It is incredible! Come on Arnold! Come with me pleaaaase!"

Arnold took a look at the boy in from of him. He really seemed thrilled about his new discovery. The problem was...Pepe used to be thrilled about everything and his usual discoveries did not always happened to be that thrilling nor that safe. But Arnold being Arnold couldn't refuse the young boy's request, that would make him really sad.

"Oh fine Pepe, I'm coming.

- Oh thank you! Pepe joyfully shouted while Arnold was getting up. You will not regret it!

- Yeah yeah sure... but come on buddy lead the way." Arnold replied throwing a glance at the letter on his desk.

He wasn't so fond of letting his letter unfinished, but on the other hand he still had the whole day to do it. So he followed Pepe out of the tent.

Outside, the villagers where all doing there everyday duties. The children were playing while the adults were taking care of the village, some of them helping Mike and Stella with the hospital.

"Arnold!"Stella shouted when she saw her son. "You're out of your tent already? We thought you would be in here for an hour! How's Helga by the way?"She added with a grin on her face.

"Mom!" Arnold shouted, his face getting red.

"Oh actually Stella I got him out of his tent, because there is something I have to show him!"

"Oh I'm sure you did Pepe!"Stella smiled."Go and show him your...whatever it is, he needs to see the sun a little",she added, playing with her son.

"Mum!"Arnold complained.

"Don't mind me dear go with Pepe and have fun, but don't come back too late."

"Yeah yeah I know..." Arnold replied a little annoyed."Bye mum we'll be back here on time."He took Pepe by the arm and pulled him toward the forest."Come on Pepe what is it you want to show me?"

"Wait Arnold. We need to find Corazón, I would like to show her too. I am sure she will like it."

"You mean you want to show off in front of her?"

"What? NO! It is just...I..she...I just think she will like to see it too"Pepe replied blushing furiously.

"Whatever you say Pepe"Arnold told him as they were getting on the way to find Corazón."But you know, it's allright to have a crush on a girl...I mean, when I was a little younger than you I already had a few crushes on girls I knew, or thought I knew..." Arnold added as the face of Ruth McDougal crossed his mind.

"Arnold! I don't have crush on her! I...I just like her". The poor boy was getting redder and redder.

"Yeah that's what they all say... Oh wait man. Turn your head slightly to the left and...Bingo! There she is!"

"What?...Oh yeah you are right... hehe...I guess I should go talk to her then right?"

"Well unless you find a way to invite her without talking to her..."

"Very funny..."

"I know, now go get her tiger, I've got a letter to write."

"Yeah right...I will do it."

And he walked toward Corazón, getting redder by the minute.

Looking at the young boy, Arnold couldn't help but remember his own shyness at the time he started dating Helga, back when he was ten. The two of them were constantly blushing at each move the other dared to make, even with a simple hand contact. How cute they were at the time...But luckily they had gained some self-confidence,...well at least enough to make out on Arnold's sofa or Helga's bed during those sunny afternoon they spent together. Ah yes ...he could remember those very well, still smell her flowery scent that was overpowering him every time he was only inches away from her, still feel her soft loving lips on his, still feel her hands gently brushing his cheeks or roughly running through his hair...

"Hi Arnold!"

"Huh?"

Breaking from his daydreams, Arnold realized that Pepe and Corazón were standing just before him.

"Oh hi Corazón how are you?"

"Oh good Arnold, a little exited about Pepe's surprise though..."she gave a sweet but exited look to the young boy, "and you?"

"A little nostalgic at the moment, but fine thanks...And no I don't know what that big surprise is" Arnold added with a smile in response to the girl's inquiring look.

"Oh well...let us see what it is then, lead the way Pepe!"

"I'm on it"

And so the young Pepe brought them to the edge of the village where they continued trough the forest. Arnold knew most of the path Pepe was following. During his nearly three years among the green-eyed people he had explored the forest many times and was getting to know it by heart. So of course he was wondering what Pepe would show him that he hadn't already seen. But Pepe seemed confident about his surprise, he was happily walking forward, talking to Corazón who was listening with all ears. The two of them were cute together, it reminded him of him and Helga...

Even if he really wanted to finish his letter, Arnold had to admit he really was enjoying the walk. Walking trough the forest was one the thing he liked the most here. It really helped him to clear his thoughts. This omnipresent nature was invigorating him. It usually was the place he would go if he would go if he wanted to peacefully think about his friends, his childhood or a certain blond girl...

Lost in his thoughts, Arnold had not noticed that he knew where the three of them were heading. But Corazón did:

"Pepe, are we going to the temple?"

The word "temple"got Arnold out of his reverie. He looked around and quickly saw that Corazón was right, they were heading to the Maya temple.

"What? But Pepe you know we shouldn't go there it's dangerous." And Arnold was right. The Maya temple was a giant temple the Maya built eight centuries ago, and it was quite in a good shape for it's age, well at least on the outside. On the inside the rooms of the temple had started to fall appart, which made it a dangerous place to visit. But that wasn't all of it. The Maya had thought the temple to be important and therefore had put traps all over the place, and deadly kind of traps. This was one of the reasons why the green-eyed people had forbidden their children to go in there and Arnold had to admit it was a valuable reason.

"Well not in the room we are going..." Pepe replied with a slight smile.

"What do you mean?"

"Well...follow me for now I will explain later...trust me." he added to skeptic Arnold.

So the three of them pursued their walk through the forest for another ten minutes until they finally got to the temple.

It was a gigantic pyramidal monument, built in a complete Maya style. It had two main floors, the top one led to an old broken altar used for rituals, and the first floor led to the inside of the temple. The temple itself was quite massive and impressive, but the whole nature that was gaining its rights back from it made it look even more striking and frightening.

"So...how about you tell us everything BEFORE we all die in a painful way?" Arnold asked

"Alright! Alright! Ah...bambino de hoy... well, you know I have been exploring the temple during the past days and..."

"Are you out of your mind Pepe? It's forbidden to go in here, and for good reasons!" Arnold cut him.

"I know, I know, it is just that I got a little curious there...I wanted to know what is in here, and why they put all the traps to protect it."

"What do you mean" Corazón asked the young boy.

"Well if they put all those dangerous traps in the temple, it surely was for a good reason. There must be something very important in it don't you think?"

"Well you've got a point here,"Arnold admitted "but how comes nobody has ever found anything valuable in it then?"

"I don't know, may be they were not that thorough,...anyway, I was curious and I explored the temple, and believe me I have gotten to know most of the traps in it..." he added, showing off a little.

"I don't like your 'most'..." Arnold cut him.

"Anyway, I discovered an awesome room and I know a perfectly safe way to get to it, and you have to see what is in it!" and with that he turned around and went for the giant stairs of the temple.

"He really doesn't want to tell us, does he?"Corazón asked.

"Nope, he doesn't...let's follow him, he might hurt himself."Arnold added with a slight grin on his face.

The two of them went after Pepe who was already half the way to the entrance. They finally reached him when he stopped in front of the door waiting for them.

"Took you time..."

"Listen Pepe...", Arnold tried to protest "we really shouldn't..."

"Shhh not a time to talk now, follow me and you will talk later."

So they did. Arnold and Corazón followed Pepe through his expedition inside the temple. They were getting nervous by the minute, expecting to be stabbed by rock stakes, have their body pierced by hundreds of arrows or crushed by a giant rolling rock, but Pepe seemed to know what he was doing, and Arnold had to admit he was being careful. He was analyzing each and every steps the group was making, telling the others where to walk and where not. They walked under Pepe's vigilant eye for fifteen minutes into the maze of the temple, taking corridors after corridors until...

"We are there, it is the next room to the right."

Of course Pepe was right, as soon as they passed the right corner of the corridor they arrived in a big room covered with statues, sculpting and paintings on the walls and apparently close to the surface since there was a ray of light coming from a hole in the wall in front of them. And that precise ray was lighting up the biggest statue in the room. It was that of giant Snake with feathers and wearing some ornaments. But there was something weird about it Arnold thought, it was as if the snake was looking at him, trying to tell him something...

"My dear friends, here stands before you Kukulkan, the serpent god!" Pepe announced them.

"Please tell me you didn't make us come here just for a statue..."Arnold pleaded shaking his head.

"Hey first of all it is freaking Kukulkan, and second no there is more to see..."

And with that, Pepe approached the statue and knelt in front of its pedestal.

"The interesting part, I discovered thanks to this statue. Here is written: "Kukulkan lord of the elements, will guide your heart through its journey.'"

"And how long have you been speaking maya?"asked Arnold, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Hum... let us say I have been here for a while."Pepe answered with a little grin on his face, "Anyway..., as I said, Itzamma is supposed to guide us and what is funny and interesting, is that there is a small arrow on his tail that points to this wall." he added pointing the right wall with his index finger.

Arnold and Corazón went near the tail of the statue and looked at the said arrow. It was there just as Pepe had told them, a little arrow carved in the tail of the giant feathered snake.

"And if you follow the arrow and go the the wall, you can see a small carving of our dear Itzimma. And the funny part is that if you press it, the wall will turn"

And it did. A part of the wall started to move and turn like a giant door as Pepe pushed the engraved brick, leading to another mysterious room. Arnold and Corazón quickly followed him as he entered the next room.

The new room was small compared to the great hall they had just left. It felt warmer too. A fiery glow was enlightening the walls, revealling some of the most beautiful carvings Arnold had ever seen. They seemed to be a strange mixture of runes and pictures, probably depicting a mayan legend. But stunning as they were, Arnold realised, as he looked for the source of the glow, that they were far from being the most interesting thing in the room. There, on his right, held on a , was the biggest ruby he had ever seen. It was the size of a coconut, and purely bloodred. As Arnold was starring at the big gemstone, captivated by its beauty, he heard Corazón's gasp which indicated she was equally affected by it.

"Amazing isn't it?" asked Pepe.

Arnold had to agree on that, the ruby was not only stunningly perfect but it also seemed to be more than that. Warmth seemed to be radiating from it in waves, making it look like a big red heart beating in a low rhythm.

"It's so beautiful Pepe!" squealed Corazón, "it's so big and perfect and... wow...You think we should take it to the village?"

"Well I thought about that too. I mean we could sell it to make money and help the village, you know, buy some drugs or something like that..."

"Oh that would be wonderful!"

"Yeah but the problem is I don't know how to take it..."

"What do you mean?" Arnold wondered.

"Well it won't leave it's. I tried moving it as much as I could, but nothing happened. It won't budge even a tiny bit." Pepe explained, sadness clearly showing on his face.

"What? No kidding?" Arnold was quite skeptical. Given how the ruby seemed to have been simply laid on a stone, he had a hard time imagining it as being unmovable.

"Come on let's try it together, I'm sure it'll move somehow" he offered.

"Well I appreciate your confidence Arnold", Pepe thanked Arnold with a smile, "but somehow I don't think it will be that easy."

"What makes you say that?" Arnold asked, quite intrigued as he slowly approached the fiery gemstone.

"The writings on the walls actually."

"You can read them?" Arnold asked, still starring at the red gemstone which was now only centimeters away from him.

" Of course, their the same as the ones on the statue,...and as any other writings in the whole temple for that matter..."

" What do they say?"

" Well they say that the 'crystal heart', which I take is this ruby, is a gift from the gods that can only be accepted by a pure soul. So I think the people who built the temple and made that room, made sure none would take it away that easily."

"I guess that makes sense." Arnold admitted, his eyes strangely rooted to the stone. "But giving it a try won't hurt now, will it?" he added smiling to his friends.

And before anyone could say anything, he had his hand on the red stone, simply wanting to try and take it away...But none of them had expected what would happen next.

The moment he laid his hand on the warm stone, a surge of electricity went trough his arm and to his head. Arnold felt as if struck by lighting, and his mind went blank as the sound of his friends screaming came to his ears.


	2. A Divine Gift

**Champion of Gods**

****Author's note: And I give you chapter 2 of the story. I believe things are starting to get interesting here, but that's just my opinion, anyway I really enjoyed writting some scene in this chapter, and I hope you'll have fun reading them.

enjoy

**Chapter 2: A divine gift**

Everything was black. Darkness everywhere...He had no idea where he was,...hell he was not even sure who he was. Was he dead? That was plausible... Although the severe headache he was suffering from seemed to contradict that... Then out of nothing, the sound of a voice met his ears.

"Hey Arnold"

What the hell? Was he at home in his bed, having dreamed about it all just to be awoken by his so recognizable clock-alarm?

"Arnold wake up!"

_But I don't want to!_ Of that he was sure, he had a bad feeling about it...Waking up would be very painful, he knew it.

"Come on Arnold! Wake up!"

_No I won't! _Abyssal darkness was preferable to upcoming pain...the headache was still bearable...

But sadly he did not seem to be given any choice as something collided with his face, thus bringing him back to reality.

"Outch" he shouted, his right hand covering his burning cheek. His eyes opened and he quickly took in his surroundings. He was in a small room, laying on the floor. As he saw two kids looking at him with worried face, his memory came back, so did the headache...

"Oh god he's waking up!" he heard Corazón's voice.

"Arnold are you okay?" Pepe asked, worry all over his face.

"No...my head hurts...a lot" Arnold answered in a weak voice. After a quick check on himself he added "Actually my whole body hurts. It's like my arms and my legs are burning..." His voice was starting to rise with panic. He was not feeling well at all. His head was searing with pain, filling his eyes with tears. To top it off, he was getting nauseated all of a sudden...

"Gosh I'm sick!" he groaned lifting himself on his left arm. A twist in his stomach made his head turn and vomit on the floor.

"Oh my god Arnold we must take you back to the village"Pepe said quickly "can you stand?"

Breathing hard, he tried to get on his feet, but his knees gave away, sending him back on the floor.

"Arnold! Corazón help me! Here take his arm." He heard Pepe's voice and could feel him putting his right arm on his shoulder, but the pain made it seem so distant. He felt a tug at his left arm and guessed that Corazón was helping him on his feet too.

As he was taken by his friends, a though entered his mind.

"Wait...what happened to the ruby?"he asked breathing heavily.

"It exploded the moment you touched it"someone told him.

"Wonderful … so we've done this for nothing..." his own voice sounded distant, not a good sign...

"Forget the stupid ruby, you're alive and that's what's important. Now let's get you back to the village" Pepe ordered, although he wasn't completely sure it was him.

Getting back to the village was one of the hardest thing Arnold had ever done. It was as if his limbs were being pierced by millions of needles and burnt at the same time. He couldn't move them and his severe headache was not helping. If not for his friends he was sure he would have stayed in the temple forever. He still wondered how they managed to get out of the temple given the hard time they had going in, but after what seemed like hours he began to feel the sun on his eyes. But the rest of the trip was a blur of pain as he was starting to loose consciousness...

Arnold could only guess when they reached the village. He heard panicked voices starting to circle him. He felt new arms grabbing him and lifting him up. He heard his name being spoken, a lot. He supposed it was his mother, just as he supposed that the arms lifting him were his father's.

"Mum...Dad...I'm...OK..." he tried to reassure them, even if his whole body was calling him a liar.

He heard a nervous chuckle and something along the line of "It'll be alright dear". But he could feel the worry around him, showing that nobody knew what was happening to him. Through the pain, he sensed that he was entering a tent, and right after that he felt the comforting softness of a mattress under him. After another "It will be alright sweetheart", blackness engulfed him again.

Arnold's dreams that night weren't very special. He spent most of the night surrounded by dark clouds. It wasn't until well into the night that he saw it: a golden temple floating in the dark sky. He was drawn by it and soon the golden building was only a hand away from him. The doors of the building were huge and heavily decorated. Aside from the ornaments, Arnold could see several elegant figures, some human, some...other. There was also a big feathered snake in the middle that was ringing a bell in his mind, but he couldn't place it.

As the big doors opened, he entered a vast dome, full of light and huge statues. The huge statues were ranged in a circle, like an assembly, and each of the characters were sitting on thrones. Only when one of them moved did he realized they were not statues. They were living creatures, some humans and some not...

"They're the ones carved on the door" he thought, and that's when he saw him, the great feathered snake, sitting in one of the biggest thrones, Kukulkan lord of the elements...

"Greetings young mortal!" said Kukulkan in a deep and powerful voice. "Greetings Arnold Shortman the human, greetings you the chosen-one."

"What? Sorry but I don't...What is this? Where am I?"

"Come little man" an old man told him, "we have much to say and little time to do it. They shall arrive soon..."

"Who will arrive?...I don't even know who you are!"

"We are gods" the serpent finally told him. "Mayan gods to be precise, and this is our pantheon. Now come Arnold, we do not have much time."

Still confused Arnold stepped forward and went in the middle of the circle drawn by the divinity scrutinizing him. As he approached them, he took the time took clearly look at his surroundings. There were a lot of seats in the circle, over twenty he would guess, but what startled him was the fact that some of them were empty. Were they the seats of the creatures the old man said should come soon? And who were those creatures? Other gods?

"Arnold" Kukulkan called him, pulling him out of his thoughts. "As I told you, you were chosen to be our champion."

"What?" Arnold asked, completely lost.

"The crystal heart chose you to be our champion Arnold." the old man repeated. "It chose you, indicating that you are a pure soul and therefore able to receive our powers..."

"Receive WHAT?!"Arnold couldn't help but yell at that. This was just absurd.

"Are humans always that dull?" asked a little reptile-like humanoid on his left.

"Please Chac, this is important" the old man shushed the reptile. "You heard well Arnold. Your world is in great danger, and we gods of the sky have decided to choose a champion among humans to try and save it. As the crystal heart chose you, you are now our champion, and we will therefore give you some of our power to help you in your mission. Do you understand Arnold?"

Still lost as ever Arnold came up with the only viable explanation he had.

"Wait I'm dreaming right?"

"Of course you are" Kukulkan confirmed "This is the only way we have to communicate with people."

"So this is not real", Arnold concluded with relief. He could just forget this nonsense and get to the next dream.

"No Arnold it is real" the old man told him, "and it is important that you..."

As the old man stopped, the room went suddenly cold and the gods around Arnold looked at each other, getting worried by the minute.

"Quick Arnold!" Kukulkan ordered him. "They are coming, you must go." And as he said those word Arnold felt a force pulling him slowly out of the hall. "Remember your mission Arnold! Remember you are our champion!" Kukulkan's voice reached him as he passed through the doors of the temple. The golden building started disappearing quickly as Arnold sped away from it and back into darkness...

The darkness stayed for the rest of the night, effectively ensuring he had no other dreams.

After what seemed like an eternity, his body finally decided to wake him up. He opened his eyes and slowly took out his surroundings. He was back in his tent, in his own bed. That was weird. He expected his parents to put him in their tent, they would want to regularly check for his health... Unless he had been out for long... That was a good question... One for which he had no answer yet.

He looked around again, looking for something that might give him some information, but only when he heard her stir did he notice his mother's presence. She was asleep on the chair at his desk, facing his bed. Arnold felt a sudden rush of happiness at the sight, he was really grateful that his spend a lot of time at his side to make sure was going better.

After a quick check on himself, Arnold sighed in relief. He was feeling better, much better in fact. There were no sign of pain anymore, as if they never had been any. Weirdly he felt full of energy, and was overcome by a sudden need to move, to run, just ...to flex his muscles. It seemed his sleeping time had fully recharged his batteries, and even more.

He decided to get up to show his mother how well he had recovered. He lifted his covers, putting his feet on the floor, and stretched up. His body did not feel sore at all which surprised him. He felt as if he was ready to run a marathon. Flexing his muscles he looked at himself... and startled. He could swear he had took on weight ...in a good way. He looked like he suddenly had gained a good amount of flesh. He continued to flex his arms, having the strange feeling that he was using new muscles every time. He was so caught up in his discovery, that it took him five minutes to realize that he was only in his boxers. He jump to his self made closet to get some clothes.

A T-shirt and a short later, he finally went to wake up his mother. Even asleep her face seemed strained, as if in her sleep she was still worried for his health. He felt the sudden urge to take her in his arm and tell her he was alright. Slowly put a kiss on her forehead, and gently shook her arm.

"Mum... Wake up mum" he softly called.

He felt her begin to stir slowly. After a little time she slowly opened her eyes to look at him. Recognition slowly filled them and a smile spread on her face …slowly.

"Aaarnooold … youuu're aawaaake!" his mother slowly exclaimed. " Wee weere soo woorriied , youu've beeen ouut foor a whoole daay"she added, slowly again...

A cold trickle of fear ran down Arnold's back. This wasn't normal at all. His mother looked like she had been put through a time filter that had divided her actual velocity by two. If he wasn't so scared for her he would have laughed at how ridiculous she looked acting like that.

"Mum what's wrong? Why are you moving like that ? Are you sick?" Arnold couldn't stop the flow of questions rushing through his lips, "what's happening?"

"Sloow doown Aarnoold. Ii doon't geet whaat youu're saayiing. Aare youu stiill feeeliing siick?" his mother interrupted him, taking his arm in a calming manner.

Arnold took a deep breath, closing his eyes to calm himself. Something was off but he had no idea what it was.

"No mum I feel fine" he told her calmly, although his whole body was tensing. "But I'm worried about you, you're acting weird, like you're sick."

His mother made a frown and shook her head. The speed of the action made it almost comical, but for Arnold it was just getting weirder and weirder.

"Ii feeel fiine Aarnoold. Youu're noot maakiing aany seense. Ii 'll beetteer caall youu're faather."

True to her word, she went for the entrance of the tent. Arnold stared at her. He could only witness the strangeness of her movement as she crossed the room and got out of the tent calling his father's name. As his mother getting out of the tent, Arnold was struck by a new question that should be solved before the others. Was his mother acting strange, or him? His heartbeat rising he followed his mother outside. After all his father would surely help him solve the problem.

The bright lights of the sun caught him as he got out of his tent. Blinking to get used to the brightness, he heard his mother still calling out his father with her slurry voice. He guessed he was at the construction place of the hospital with the green-eyed people. He easily caught up with his mother's pace, eager to see his father.

"Miike!" his mother called again.

"Ii'm heere Steellaa. Whaat iis iit?" his father's voice slowly answered. It was the same speed as his mother...

Dread started to seize Arnold's body. As his father reached them, he could fully see that his mother was right. There was nothing wrong with her. His father was behaving just as strange. When he started to look around, Arnold witnessed a surreal scene. The whole camp seemed to have passed through a time-slowing filter, from the workers at the construction site to the women cooking together at the grand house. His body was starting to shake as he could see slowly flying through the village, insects were getting past him and he could distinguish their wings flapping in the wind. The workers were passing objects between themselves and even in the air those looked as if they were floating...

"Aarnoold! Youu're uup!" His father pulled him out of his frozen state. "Hoow aare youu feeeliing deaar?" At his words the workers turned their head in their direction, and after seeing Arnold they stopped their work to approach him.

"I feel fine dad" Arnold lied. He was speaking as calmly as possible so as not to raise any doubts. "I just feel a little tired and sore." Another lie, he was just frightened. He was just witnessing the strangest thing he had ever seen in his entire life.

"Aare youu suure Aarnoold? Youu diidn't..." his mother started wondering when the workers reached them. A flow of "Heeyy Aarnoold!" started to overwhelm him. He would have felt happy if their pace wasn't making them look like sleepy zombies trying to cut his way out and eat him alive.

As other villagers were starting to join them, Arnold began to panic. He was having a hard time to breath as the surreality of the scenery caught up to him.

"Waait peoople! Leet hiim breeath aa liittle" his father shouted over the the increasing crowd. Arnold couldn't be more grateful as the villagers gave him some much needed space.

"Thank you guys, I feel better" Arnold told them, his brain getting in overdrive mode. There was only one thing he was sure of right now, he needed to get away from the mass of people surrounding him. He wanted nothing more than to be alone so he could figure out what was happening. "I just need a little more time to recover please".

"Yees peeople, hee iis riight, giive hiim soome reest, Ii'm suure Aarnoold wiill seee youu wheen hee haas fuully recooveered." his father once again addressed to the crowd. Arnold felt a sudden rush of love for his father as the villagers agreeing with him, started to get back to their work, except a few like Pepe, Corazòn and some old members of the council.

"Soo Aarnoold, aare youu suure youu're feeeliing beetteer?" Mike asked again.

"Yes dad, I'm sure" Arnold lied. He could swear one of the old council members got right through the lie. He was staring at Arnold in a weird way. "I just need to move a little" Arnold added. Well actually he needed to run pretty badly, may be he could go in the forest. Yes that would be nice.

"I think I'll go in the forest to walk a little. It might help me wake up a little." _even if I am fully awake already_ Arnold thought.

"Aare youu suure Aarnoold?" his mother asked a little worried.

"Yes mum, I'm sure ... yep … the forest will be great." Arnold assured her.

"Aalriight buut pleease leet PeePee goo wiith youu, ...juust iin caase." Stella insisted.

"Okay then come on Pepe" Arnold ordered the boy, not letting his parents discuss any further.

"Riight beehiind youu Aarnoold" Pepe slowly exclaimed.

Thinking of a way to get rid of the little boy, Arnold led him to the forest. He really wanted to be alone to think about what was happening to him. He was now sure that he was the victim and not the entire village, that seemed a bit far fetched. Arnold gave a weak laugh at that thought. As if the situation didn't already seem far-fetched.

Arnold began to speed up, impatient to get in the forest. Turning his head, he could see that Pepe was struggling to hold the pace. With a smile Arnold found the way to get alone...

Once in the wood he waited for Pepe and decided to give him a little warning.

"Okay Pepe, I think I 'll run now, try to keep up with me but don't panic if you can't, alright?" Somehow, if Pepe was as slow as everything around him, then Arnold was pretty confident he would loose the boy.

"Huum ookaayy Aarnoold buut whyy doo youu waant too ruun? Ii thouught youu weere tiired." Pepe asked him in return.

"I don't know, I just want to run. It's like a sudden impulse" Arnold truly told him. The energy he had felt when waking up had not gone away and he was indeed in a need to let go of it.

"Okay let's go" Arnold ordered, and with that he started his run.

He was going slow at first, trying to warm up a little. But as he went on, the overflow of energy he had felt earlier engulfed him, making him forget everything else...He felt the sudden to go faster and he complied. As he had guessed, the distance between him and Pepe was increasing rapidly. But Arnold couldn't care less as he was rushing through the forest. He was feeling so free and full of joy as trees were getting past him at a remarkable speed.

This was exhilarating, the wind was caressing his face, his muscles were flexing hard to keep him through the wood, but he did not feel the least bit tired. Around him the world was slowing down even more, leaves were floating in the air taking their time to meet the ground, birds were flapping their wings so slowly they seemed caught in a cage of air. Arnold realized he was being quicker those birds,... a lot quicker. The run was getting more thrilling by the minute, he felt caught in a frenzy pushing him to go even faster. It was as if he was driving a car and pressing the accelerator to go faster and faster...

He was so lost in his run that he did not see the fallen tree in front of him until it was a mere meter away from him. Too fast to stop himself he reflexively tried to jump over it. Sure that he would crash against the trunk he was surprised when his body shot up in the air, ten feet above the ground. The surprising height of his jump left him unprepared for his landing back to the earthen floor, where he loudly crashed.

"Ugh!" Arnold grunted as the air was cut out off his chest. Holding his chest he got up, did a quick check on himself and turned around.

"Wow..." Arnold was left speechless as he tree he had just jumped over that was now more than fifty feet away from him...he didn't just break the record of the biggest jump in the world, he destroyed it...

Adrenaline cursed through Arnold's body. For all he knew, he was the only man on the planet who was able to do what he just did. His heartbeat was starting to go up as he was grasping what happened. His breathing went quicker and heavier. Sudden realization put a smile on his face, and thrilled, Arnold started to run again.

He rocketed through the forest smiling wildly. He changed his direction a lot, trying to see how fast he could turn. He was going so fast his limbs were starting to get blurry, only flashes of flesh. Every time he met an obstacle on his path, from rock to trunk, he jumped over, getting higher every time. It felt so incredible and liberating, he could not stop running.

Not being really tired, it was the tree that stopped him. This time he jumped over a rock and miscalculated. He went to high and to far, heading right for the big tree in front of him. While in the air, Arnold had the time to panic. He could not change his direction, the tree was really big and he was rushing towards it at full speed. That was surely going to hurt...

CRAAACK!

Arnold slammed into the tree and crashed onto the hard floor.

"AH...OOF...ugh" were the only word Arnold was able to speak during the entire scene. Breathing hard, he stayed on the floor for a while. "Gosh... that hurt" and it did, but not as much as it should have. A part of Arnold's mind whispered him that given the size of the tree and his speed, he should not be able to get up. _That's right, _Arnold thought, _I should have several broken bones right now. And how the hell am I still conscious?_

Clutching his left side, which had gotten most of the blow, he slowly got up on his feet. Taking a look at the tree, he felt his eyes go wide open. Arnold was sure the tree had inclined a little, the roots at the front had gotten a little out of the ground, and last but not least, there were small cracks near the base of the tree. He just couldn't believe it, he had hurt the tree more than himself. How was that even possible? He could not help but check his body for any injury, he was so sure he should have been completely broken in pieces. But no he just had a sore shoulder...

_You are a pure soul and therefore able to receive our powers... _a small voice ringed in Arnold's head. It sounded familiar, and he knew it was from some memory he had but could not place. But what did it mean? Did he suddenly have powers. From what he just witnessed, it looked a little like it. He was faster, could jump higher and seemed more resistant. The whole was completely surreal, but as the idea started to settle in his mind, he felt thrilled.

He flashed back to the stone he had jumped over before his meeting with the tree. Acting on instinct, he put his hands under the heavy looking rock and tried to make it move. It worked too well... Instead of just rolling like it should have, the stone was thrown in the air meters away.

As he watched it crash on the floor, Arnold was suddenly brought back to the dream he had had the night before.

His mind was filled with the sight of a large golden hall, and several people staring at him. They were gods, that he remembered. They had chosen him, he did not know why, but they had and with that they wanted to give him their powers. He was trying really hard to remember the whole scene, but as any other dream, the harder he tried the more his memory faded. The whole purpose of this remained a mystery to him. Cold followed buy pure adrenaline rushed through his body as he realized his dream was real. Of that he was sure. He had super powers...

"OH. MY. GOD!" Arnold could only shout. He was completely thunderstruck. He, plain Arnold Shortman, who used to follow his eyes in term of religion, had be chosen by gods to receive their powers. It was so irrational, but yet he had no explanation for his sudden prowess.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" Arnold kept exclaiming. He started to laugh, from gently at first, to completely hysterical. He just could not help himself.

Calming himself a little, he tried to think of what he had to do. Was he supposed to tell his parents? Or act natural for the rest of his life? No he would tell his parent, he owed them that. Being honest was the right thing to do. But first he had to find Pepe. The poor boy was surely worried, having lost Arnold so quickly.

Arnold felt a little guilty at the thought, he really had to find the boy. Which was not that easy in the dense forest...

But an idea seized Arnold's mind, and he looked up at the closest tree. It was big, but Arnold only need one jump to reach the branch he was looking for. Taking a look around him, he felt satisfied of the height he had gained. That would definitely help him find Pepe. He then started to jump from tree to tree at a good speed.

His little monkeying around was giving him a great sense of freedom. He felt incredible dancing through the forest, launching himself in the air, the wind sweeping his face. His new powers also seemed to grant him more agility, since his brain was reacting quicker like the rest of his body, he had time to check his every move, enabling him to evolve with grace in his search of his little friend.

Heading towards the village, after a few minutes he heard a familiar voice calling him.

"Aarnoold! Aarnoold weere aare youu?"

Recognizing Pepe's voice Arnold jumped off the tree he was in and, reaching the floor, flashed toward the source of the voice. As Pepe got in sight range, Arnold took the time to look closely at his friend, and he could swear he was barely moving. As he slowed done, Pepe began to move a little more. When Arnold finally stopped in front of him, Pepe had regained his usual speed,...well the speed he had when Arnold woke up. This observation tickled Arnold's interest, he will have to think it through when he had the time.

"Whoooa! Aarnoold hoow diid youu doo thiis?" Pepe asked him. He seemed completely thunderstruck , but to Arnold was as if he was drunk. Arnold could not help but grin at the thought. "Fiirst youu ruun soo faast Ii caan't foolloow youu, theen youu appeear ouut oof noowheere! Whaat's haapeniing?"

Even though it had seemed funny at first, Arnold was suddenly starting to get annoyed by Pepe's speed of speech. If he had to spend the rest of his life with people talking to him as if they were mentally challenged, he would go mental as well. But first he had to answer Pepe's question. There was his first problem, what should he tell him? Since Pepe saw quite much, Arnold guessed he should be honest with the boy, at least partially.

"I don't know Pepe... it might sound weird" Arnold started, "but I think that ruby I touched in the temple, ...it gave me powers."

"Whaat?" Pepe exclaimed. As Arnold guessed, to convince Pepe, Arnold would have to show him what he meant. So he did exactly that. Telling him about the powers he had discovered, he then demonstrated his newly acquired skills using his surroundings. He jumped to a nearby tree and tore off one of it's biggest branch with his bare hands. He than proceeded to run in a big circle around Pepe, going faster and faster. As he accelerated, he felt it again, that feeling of being in a car and gradually stepping on the accelerator. That thought gave him an idea. If he could accelerate like that, maybe he could also push his break pedal and slow down? He would have to test that later.

Completely at awe, Pepe could only shout his enthousiasm.

"Woow Aarnoold! Thaat's iincreediible! Wee haave too goo teel the ootheers, iit's juust huuge!"

"Yeah but I'm not sure I want to tell everyone yet Pepe." Arnold stopped him. "I think must get a little used to it myself first, I mean..."

"Yeaah buut youu haave too teel youur paareents aat leaast." Pepe slowly countered. "Pluus youu knoow wheen youu geet uuseed to youur pooweers youu caan heelp thee viillaage aand suuch."

The boy was right of course. He already intended to tell his parents, but Pepe was right about the others, he would have to tell them sooner or later. But right now his parents were the priority, they must still be worried about him, especially his mother because of their little exchange this morning.

"Okay you're right, let's go to the village."

The journey back was, again, long for Arnold. If it had been for him he would have run to the village, but the problem was Pepe, he was... just too slow for Arnold. He was also asking Arnold to show his new talents, ...constantly. At first Arnold found it funny and happily complied, but he was starting to get annoyed. Joy and relief filled him when he finally saw the first houses of the village.

"Here we are!" Arnold exclaimed. "I need to get my parents and tell them".

"Yees, leet's goo too theeir teent!" Pepe said.

So they set off toward Mike and Stella's tent. But when they got there and opened the tent, they found it empty.

"Where are they?" Arnold ask, more for himself than Pepe.

"Ii doon't knoow, leet's aask soomeoone." Pepe suggested.

So they did just that, and after asking a few people, one of the workers at the construction site told them that they were in the old council house.

"Whaat aare theey dooing theere?" asked Pepe.

"I don't know, I guess we should go and see for ourselves" Arnold answered.

So they went to the old council house. Arnold was starting to feel a little nervous at the conversation he was going to have with his parents.

Entering the old house with Pepe, he saw his parents sitting in the circle with the old council members. They all turned their head to look at the new comers.

"Aah Aarnoold " one of the old council members exclaimed, "iit iis goood youu aare heere, wee weere taalking aabouut youu."

Arnold shrugged at that. It was the same old man that had looked strangely at him earlier. He had a feeling he knew a little about his "predicament".

"Well I came here because I wanted to talk to my parents actually..." Arnold told them.

"Weell theen, feeel freee too teell theem whaateever youu waanteed too teell theem" the old man said.

"Er..., actually I had hoped to do it in private, if I could borrow them from you..."

At this Arnold realized that a conversation with his parents at the rate everyone spoke, would be quite difficult. Just as it had been with Pepe. That brought his ealier idea again. If he could speed up, than he could surely slow down. He tried to focus on this as the old man opened his mouth again.

"Aah...Aarnoold, Ii wouuld liike too knoow soomething first" the old man inquired. Arnold was intrigued, but he also noticed that he had sped him up a little. "Is it about what happened at the temple? And more precisely, What is happening to you?".

Arnold was completely stunned at that. _He knows_, was his only thought. There was a little twinkle the old man's eyes that could only confirm Arnold's theory.

"Yes it is..." Arnold answered, nervousness seizing him.

"Theen myy deaar,... Ii wouuld preefer youu teell uus aas weell" the old man told him. Arnold noticed he was slow again, so he refocused on slowing himself, "beecauuse Ii haave a feeling this might also concern your future in our village..."

"What it is he talking about Arnold?" his mum asked a little worried. "Are you alright honey?"

Arnold felt a little torn, he was not feeling well about telling the whole council about his new skills, but a part of him believed the old man could help if he knew of it.

"Well mum, dad, ….hum and council members it seems,..." Arnold started. He took a deep breath and went on, "I think I have super powers, ...or something like that."

As he expected, his parents were just dumbfounded, the council seemed a little lost as well, but the old man just smiled...

"Well, … it's... hard to tell, … or to believe actually" Arnold tried to explain. "But I think I'm faster and stronger than normal now, ...I … I know it's sounds weird but Pepe just witnessed it."

At this Pepe nodded vigorously. Arnold felt that as a sign of support, and he felt the strength to continue.

"So anyway I woke up this morning and everything seemed fine, but as I woke mum up, she started to speak in a weird way..."

Stella's lost face turned into a frown. "But Arnold, honey, it was you who were acting weird."

"Well You're right mum." Arnold admitted. "The thing is you were talking very slowly and I thought something was wrong with you, but...as we went outside, I realized everything was just...slow. The way people spoke, the way they moved,...everything. But my little trip to the forest made me understand that... you're not slow,... it's just me who's being faster. I...I think I can run as fast as a car now..." Arnold left his sentence rigging in the air. He felt better actually telling some people about his new situation. "But that's not the whole of it..."

And so he began telling them about the other things he had discovered in the forest, from his leaping abilities, to his encounter with the big tree. Everyone was listening carefully to him, but he could not tell if they were believing him or not. His dad seemed to be completely focused on his son's words, while his mum had a worried hand on her mouth the whole time.

"So that's it... I... I know it sounds completely impossible and utterly mad, but... if you don't believe I can show you..." Arnold finished.

Stella looked as if about to say something, but it was again the old man who spoke first.

"Thank you Arnold, that won't be necessary. I think you brought us an interesting view of the incident that took place in that temple, which Pepe and Corazón had already told us about..."

"The hell with the accident!" Stella interrupted him, "I just want to know is my son is alright or not!"

"It's okay mum, I feel great." Arnold reassured her, "a little lost sure, but otherwise I'm fine."

"Yes Stella" the old man spoke again, "if your son crashed against a big tree but is now able to stand in front of us completely unscratched, then I believe he is going to be alright."

Stella blushed at the meaning of the old man's words. She looked as if she was just grasping what Arnold's story meant.

"But as I said earlier, I think your new abilities might change your future with us here Arnold" the old man went on.

"Yes I suppose it means I will be able to help with the construction of the hospital,... well at least after getting used to … hum … what I can do." Arnold followed the man's thought.

"On the contrary Arnold" the old man countered him, confusing everyone. "If you remember well Arnold, the day you were born, we were the witnesses of a miracle" the old man explained. "You, a baby, were able to silence nature itself, leaving us therefore with the knowledge that you were destined to be the protector of our world."

At those words, looks of understanding appeared on the council members faces. But Arnold was a little lost.

"Excuse me sir, but I don't get it..." he said.

"What I mean my young man, is that your destiny is not with us anymore" the old man explained. "You are bound to greater good and greater responsibilities."

"But we can't just leave Quebasa!" Mike spoke for the first time. "We haven't finished the hospital, and I'm sure there's a lot more we can do..."

"You are right Mike" the old man agreed, "but I fear this is less important right now. It would be very selfish of us to keep Arnold with us. His destiny is somewhere else. I am sure he will be able to accomplish remarkable things with his new talents." He was looking at Arnold the whole time, a smile getting on his face.

"But..." Stella started. Apparently she had the same opinion as Mike.

"I am afraid there is nothing to argue about my dear Stella" Quebasa interrupted her, " You helped us greatly the three of you, and for that we are most grateful. But I'm afraid there is an end to everything, and Arnold's new... 'condition' … made this clear. You have to leave my friends, we can no longer keep you with us."

The Shortman were at a lost for word. Quebasa's words were, it seemed, final. Arnold felt a wave of cold curse through his body as his heart rate increased.

"Okayy" Mike finally said, "Wee'll leaave wiithiin aa weeek..."

Arnold did not hear the rest of the exchange between his parents and the council as they were speaking slower and slower for him. An idea had caressed his mind. He was getting back to Hillwood a lot sooner than he should. He would see his friends very soon. He would see Helga very soon...That is when he remembered, _I have a letter to finish._


	3. Getting Back to Hillwood

**Champion of Gods**

****Author's note: Chapter 3 is here with some awaited interactions between Arnold and his old friends. It was very interesting to write I must say. I hope I did the characters some justice.

enjoy

**Chapter 3: Returning to Hillwood**

"It's this one" Arnold said, pointing to the baggage carousel "Flight Seattle – Hillwood."

"Alright" Mike answered, "Stella can you keep the trolley? Arnold and I will get the luggage"

The three of them where at Hillwood Airport. It had taken them a little more than a week to make sure everything was ready for their departure. They had had to pack their bags which had taken some time, but they also had wanted to stay a little longer to explain to the green-eyed people all the plans Stella and Mike had had for them and the village's development. Arnold had needed some time to convince his parents, especially his mother, that he was perfectly fine. He had spend some hours showing them "the Arnold 2.0" as he liked to call his sudden change. The goodbyes had been tough, of course, ...it always is with people you have known for a long time...

Their departure from the village had been quicker than their arrival. They had brought their luggage and material far from the village and at the verge of the forest. Arnold carrying most of it had considerably accelerated their trip. Once there Arnold had run to the nearest village to have a jeep come and pick up his parents. From there they had taken a lot of buses and flights to finally get to their little beloved town.

After getting all their luggage they pushed their trolleys toward the exit, toward the outer world. Arnold was feeling a little nervous, after all, it had been nearly three years since he last saw his hometown.

"Well, here we go..." Mike said as the big exit doors opened. _No shit._

As they passed the doors, they saw a lot of people waiting in front of them. Some of them were well dressed and holding plates with the name of their client, others were chatting together, waiting for friends or family, and finally some doing the same thing, but alone. Phil belonged to the last category, but looked like he was a whole group by himself. He was jumping around, throwing his arms in the air and shouting "Over here! Arnold! Over here! Mike! Stella! Over here!"

Arnold chuckled at the sight. _Same old grandpa._

"Ah I think I've spotted grandpa" Mike told them with a smile. Stella laughed and replied a soft "Hard to miss."

Upon reaching him, Arnold took grandpa into a bear hug.

"Grandpa! It's been so long!"

"Woah there Shortman! I'm happy to see you too, but you're Ol' Steely Phil a little much hehe." grandpa breathed.

"Oops sorry!" Arnold said, releasing him.

"Hey dad! It's really good to see you!" Mike greeted.

"Hello Phil, how are you?" Stella followed.

They all exchanged hugs with the old man, and after a little more greeting, hugging, and chatting, they went for the parking of the airport.

"I've come with the Packard." Phil explained, "I've washed her clean just for this occasion. She's never looked that pretty so far you'll see!."

So they followed him to the parking lot. The Packard had indeed been nicely cleaned up. Freshly painted in a deep green, she was shining completely, looking brand new.

"Beautiful work dad." Mike told, "She's very pretty."

Grandpa thanked him with a smile and they started packing the old car. The number of luggage they had made it difficult, and in the end, Arnold and Stella had to take some on their legs. After putting the trolleys back and making sure everything was fine, grandpa set the engine on and drove the car through the parking lot.

On the road grandpa was asking them about their trip, but Arnold had his mind elsewhere. The city landscape was passing slowly before him, making me wonder what he was supposed to do with his new abilities now. And who would he tell? That was the big question. He would make sure to see his friends soon, and he was sure they would be happy to see him again after so long, but... there was one thing he was not sure about... and it was their reacting to "Arnold 2.0".

"Aand youu Aarnoold?" Grandpa brought him out of his thought.

"Uh... sorry what?"Arnold could only reply, immediately refocusing.

"Hehe... in the clouds already, are you?" Grandpa asked with a smile. Arnold shrugged, that part of him had not changed.

"Anyway" grandpa went on, "I was wondering how it felt to be in this Ol' beautifully cleaned Packard again?"

_Slow._ "Great! So many memories are coming back, it's funny" Arnold replied.

The drive went on peacefully with Mike and Stella telling Phil about things that happened about during their trip home and the three years spent at the green-eyed people. Arnold was wishing he could get outside the car to run to the boarding house. He was entirely sure he would be faster, but people would surely look at him strangely. He laughed inwardly as he pictured the face of the owner of the Porsche that had just passed them, upon seeing a young man running next to his car. He would surely get an attack.

After a twenty minute drive, that felt more like forty minutes for Arnold, they finally arrived in front of the boarding house. Arnold felt a surge of joy at the sight of the house. How much he had missed that house...Everything from the building itself to the inhabitants. He just could not wait to get in.

"Goosh, aas muuch as I enjoyed it back there" Mike said, "I have to say it's really good to be back."

_Soooo much._

"And it's good to have you back!" Grandpa replied as they started unpacking the car. "And wait 'till you see what Pookie prepared for your return. She's gone over the top this time let me tell you. Now Arnold let me take some of your luggage, you're gonna break your back if you take all of this!"

Arnold chuckled at this. He had one bag on his back, two in his right hand and he was going to take two more in his left. They sure looked heavy for someone else but to Arnold they were like feathers.

"It's okay grandpa, they're not that heavy." Arnold replied.

"Yeah dad, let him take them" Mike backed up, "your too old for this and the boy needs to build some muscles, don't you think Arnold?" he added with a smile, but Arnold was sure he spotted a bit of nervousness on his father's face,...and his mother's as well.

_Yeah sure... I need strength so badly right now..._ "Sure dad." Arnold replied with a smile. He would have to tell grandpa and grandma...

The small group went inside the house with Phil opening the door. Once inside they saw Gertie dart out of the kitchen,...in a Napoleon costume.

"Ah here you are!" she exclaimed. Turning around she shouted to the stairs. "Listen up troops! The new recruits are there!"

After some a few seconds Arnold heard some doors rattling, and people chatting together.

"They're here?" a voice asked from upstairs. Is sounded like Suzy.

"Yeah they're here!" Grandpa shouted back. "So get your lazy butts over here and greet them!"

Arnold laughed at that. _Typical grandpa_. But the borders were starting to get down the stairs, and Arnold was already recognizing the faces of his old friends. Ernie, Mr. Huynh, Oskar and Suzy were still here, but there were also new faces that he did not know.

"The Shortmans are back!" Ernie yelled. "About damn time!"

The Shortmans chuckled. "It's nice to see you too Ernie" Arnold said with a smile. He was overwhelmed with joy. It felt so good to see all those people again. As everyone hugged and happily chatted, Arnold was introduced to the new members of the boarding house. There was Evelyn, a forty year old women, very "femme fatale" on the outside, but apparently a little eccentric on the inside. Next were Thomas and Peter, a gay couple who were both working for the same bank. While Thomas seemed to be more calm and elegant, Peter was a little more "social" and sought every opportunity he had to make a good joke. And last but not least was Jimmy, an art student in his twenties tall, thin and very kind and joyful.

After some time, the boarders went back to their respective rooms while grandpa guided Mike Stella and Arnold upstairs to theirs.

"We've kept your rooms the same as they were" grandpa told them with a big smile on his face. "We just cleaned them of course."

They went to Mike and Stella's room first, where Arnold put almost all the luggage he was carrying. While he left his parents to their setting up, he went to his old room followed by grandpa.

Upon opening the door, nostalgia took hold of him. As grandpa had told him, his room had not changed at all. Everything was there, from his old clock-alarm, to his hide-able couch.

"Everything's there" grandpa told him. " We just changed the bed, it was getting a little old."

Arnold took a look at it. The bed frame had been changed, it was a little bigger, and a little different too.

"Now you have some space under it. You can now hide things under your bed like, I don't know... some magazines perhaps? Hehe..."

"Grandpa!"

"Alright, alright. I'll leave you alone to... make your room hihi..." And with that he closed the door.

Arnold sighted. _Same old grandpa..._But he was happy about it. It felt so good to be back. He wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the day with his family. It had been such a long time. But he was also eager to see his friends again, especially a blond friend of his... He would call them tomorrow for sure. Gerald would go crazy of course, but he was mostly nervous about Helga's reaction. Would she act completely neutral towards him? Friendly? Or perhaps...something more. No...he was not nervous about it, he was scared...

For the Shortman's return grandma had gone over the top that night. She had prepared quite a meal, and some of the boarders had helped decorate the kitchen with a huge "Welcome back!" banner and lots of other colorful things. Everyone was in party mood. Oskar even had a small party hat on his head, which made Arnold chuckle.

The meal went well, everyone chatting about what happened for the past two years. Grandpa and grandma talked about the borders that had left, some that came by for some months and had left. Mr. Huynh talked about his restaurant which was working pretty well since his promotion, and his daughter who was currently studying physics at university. Ernie was still enjoying his job as demolisher and was dating a women named Stacy since three month. Before the Shortman left for San Lorenzo, Oskar had continued his studies and he now had a good stable job. Suzy and him where currently thinking about starting a family. Picturing Oskar being a father was a little tricky for Arnold, but he was most happy for them.

Meanwhile Arnold and his parents talked about their time with the green-eyed people. They told everyone about their culture, about the village, the forest and how much they helped the green-eyed people. But the three of them made sure to avoid the event that happened to Arnold. It would completely break the mood, and Arnold was still not sure about whom he wanted to tell...

"So... why did you decide to get back to Hillwood?" Suzy asked. It was late in the night, they had finished dinner and were now chatting together when Suzy popped her question. "Don't get me wrong, we're glad you're here of course,... but we did not expect you coming home before another year at least."

Arnold felt a cold dread pass his body, he had no idea how to answer that without telling the truth. He looked at his parents in hope they had more ideas than him.

"Actually..." Mike started, "It was the green-eyed people who kicked us out..." After a quick look at Arnold he went on "they finally decided that we had done enough for them, and that they were feeling a little egoistic by keeping us in their village,...so they kicked us out."

The Art of telling the truth without telling the truth..._Good job dad, _Arnold smiled. After that they mostly talked about the green-eyed people's culture and no more critical questions were asked.

They had all started to go to bed when Arnold heard a soft knock on his door. He went to open it and found his dad standing behind it.

"Hey son, I just wanted to talk to you for a minute if you don't mind?"

"Nope dad come in"

Mike entered the room and went to sit on the couch while Arnold sat on his bed.

"Soooo... how are you feeling kiddo?" Mike asked.

"Fine I guess...I'm really happy to see everybody again."

"Yeah me too" Mike smiled, "but that wasn't really the reason I wanted to talk to you...uh... It's about you're recently acquired abilities..."

"Ah..."

"Yes... I think you have to figure out who you want to tell this."

"Yeah I figured that out too..."

"I mean, I think you've got to be careful with those you haven't told...or do not plan on telling."

"You're talking about grandpa?"

"Partly yes... It's not like you were very careful there" Mike added with a smile. "Don't get me wrong Arnold, I'm not ashamed of what happened, or is happening to you,... but I think what you have is a gift, and valuable gifts must be treasured and protected...You can't... you can't just shove them in everyone's face. Some might get jealous and start doing bad things..."

"I understand dad" Arnold replied, "I'll try to be more careful about it."

"Good" Mike smiled," well... I'll let you sleep then. Good night son."

"Night dad." Arnold said as his father left the room. He was right of course, Arnold should be more careful about his powers around other people. And he also had to figure out who he should tell and how. But he would do that later, right now he needed to sleep, tomorrow would be full of surprise...

Arnold woke up late the next day. He took a long shower to make up for the nearly three years he couldn't have a decent one and want down for breakfast. His parents were already there talking with grandma.

"Heeyy sweeetyy, diid you sleep well?" Stella asked him.

"Like a baby."

After eating, he went back to his room to do his first task of the day, calling Gerald. He picked up the phone that had been installed in his room before he left for San Lorenzo. It had been installed there mostly for him to call Helga when they were dating. He dialed Gerald's home number, and after ringing for a few times...

"Hello, Timberly here!" a girl's voice answered.

"Hey Timberly! It's Arnold Shortman..."

"Arnold! Oh my god, how are you? It's been so long since we last saw you!"

"I'm fine really, I'm back at Hillwood right now and I..."

"You're back at Hillwood! That's fantastic! You've got to come over soon. The house has changed so much! We've got a little cat now, she's soooo cute! And Gerald..."

And she went on, talking frantically. It was funny because she was talking so quickly that Arnold barely needed to slow himself down to have a normal conversation.

"Hum Tim? Sorry to interrupt you, but could I speak to Gerald...if his here?"

"Oh Right!... hehe... Sorry, here I am talking like crazy, but of course you can talk to Gerald, silly me. Wait a sec'...Gerald!"

Arnold waited as he heard Gerald getting down the stairs, asking about the call.

"Arnold? Is that you?" Gerald asked eagerness in his voice.

"Yep Gerald, it's me" Arnold replied with a smile.

"Wow that's incredible man! It's so good to hear you again! We have to meet soon man...I mean... if you're in Hillwood that is..."

"Of course I'm in Hillwood Gerald" Arnold smiled again, "That's why I called in the first place... I just want to see everyone again...it's been so long."

"Than worry no more my friend, Gerald is going to fix that for you! Give me some time, I'll try to contact everyone, I'm sure we can arrange a meeting,... let's say Gerald's field at 3 o'clock?"

"Sounds good to me my friend."

"Then we shall meet again soon my dear man!"

"Yup Gerald, see you soon, … and thank you."

"No problem man, see you."

After hanging up, Arnold felt thrilled, he was soon going to see everyone again. After the phone call, he spent most of his time tidying his room. He unpacked the rest of his luggage, giving every new object its own place in the room.

As the hours passed by, Arnold was getting more nervous than thrilled, and he new why. Her reaction to seeing him would be the most important of all...he wanted to get it over with because it was killing him.

After lunch and nearly an hour of waiting in his room, he decided he could not hold it anymore, he needed to see her. He took his keys and wallet and went through the window onto the fire-escape. Once on it, he looked down, and after making sure none was watching him he jumped all the way down to the street. After landing with a _thump_ he got up, straightened his clothes, and started jogging toward the Pataki's house.

After a small run, he arrived in front of the house. He had just been jogging, so he would not attract looks, but it still took him little time to get there. Not tired at all, but completely shaking from nervousness he knocked on the door and took a deep breath, waiting...

After what seemed like an eternity, someone opened the door...Miriam.

"Heelloo?" she asked Arnold, obviously not recognizing him...even if he had dated her daughter for some time...

"Hello Mrs. Pataki, is Helga here? Could I see her?" Arnold asked her.

"Uhm...yes she's here,...but who are you?" she asked a little suspicious.

Arnold did not know what to think about that...on one hand she was a little protective about her daughter, which was a definite progress since that showed she cared a little about her daughter... but on the other hand, she could not remember her daughter's ex-boyfriend.

"Well I'm a friend of her" Arnold answered, _or so I hope._

"Alright, wait a second... Helga!... There's someone for you at the door!" Miriam called towards the stairs.

"Okay Miriam, …I'm coming." Arnold heard her answer from upstairs. His mouth twitched up in a smile at the sound of her.

"Alright honey" Miriam said, and with that she went back in the living room.

Arnold then heard a door slam, followed by the sound of footsteps stepping down the stairs._ This is __it..._ Arnold's nervousness was reaching it's peek. And just like that she appeared in front of him …

"Hey Pheebs!" Helga said looking inside the house, away from him, "have you come to pick me..." and then she finally looked at him, stopping dead-on, "...up."

"Hey Helga..." Arnold managed with a slight smile, before his brain went in overdrive. Everything slowed down as he looked at her. Her face was as beautiful as ever, but his eyes could not help scan the rest of her body. Boy did she grew during those three years. She was now showing curves that had not been that present. She had become a young women for sure.

But before he could react anymore, he saw her starting to step forward, and he slowed down. She launched herself into his arms, hugging him closely. They stayed like for what felt like hours. As he hugged her, he felt a pressure he did not know he had in him being released. He felt a little liberated, as if he had found a part of himself that had been lost for years. He was embracing the feel of her, slowly wrapping his head around the fact that she was here with him again... But the longer they remained in their embrace, the more he was getting aware of those new curves of hers. With her chest pressing against his, he was starting to feel like a normal teenager,...a little horny. _Get a grip on yourself!_

But just as suddenly as she had gotten into his arms, she stepped back, looking straight at him, ...blushing.

"Sorry... " Helga started shyly, "I shouldn't have..."

"It's okay..." Arnold answered with a smile.

"Is it really you?" she asked as she was not really sure it was true.

"Yeah...I think so." Arnold chuckled.

And with that she was in his arms again.

"Oh gosh...It's been so long!"she exhaled on his shoulder.

"Yeah...it has" Arnold chuckled again. He could not help it, that smile of his seemed to have been printed on his face. He stepped back a little to look at her. "2 years, 10 months and 25 days if I'm correct."

"Yes exactly" she smiled at him. But with a frown she added "but why are you here? I had a hard time believing Geraldo about this...I mean...with your letters I didn't expect you before another year or so..."

"Ah yes...well it's a long story, and... I was hoping we could … you know... go to the field together and I would explain it on the way..."

"Oh! Sure thing football-head, let me get my shoes"

She turned around as Arnold noticed she was bare-footed. While his eyes went up, they stay a little longer than they should on her rear end. He felt some blood rushing to his face as he noticed,... and south too... _It's going to be a hard day..._

"Okay let's go!" Helga exclaimed taking his arm, leading him out on the street.

And with that they started their walk toward Gerald's field.

"Sooo..." Helga started after some time. "Why did you come so early?"

Arnold's brain accelerated a little. Helga was one of the person he wanted to tell about... Arnold 2.0, but first he had to get confident about his abilities, and... about his relationship with her. Somehow, a part of him still worried she would freak out... So he had to tell her later, which meant coming up with a story for his coming back..._ Why not go for dad's explanation?_

"Well..." Arnold explained, slowing himself down, "the green-eyed people kicked us out actually..."

"What?" Helga asked incredulous.

So Arnold went on, telling the same story his father had told the boarders. He told her everything, from the green-eyed people's decision, to their little party at the boarding house. He told her about the time it had taken them to prepare for the departure. Helga was curious about how they traveled back to the airport with all their luggage, and Arnold had to lie a little there too, telling her that they were helped by some of the villagers.

"So you arrived in Hillwood yesterday, and you didn't tell me until now?" Helga pouted at him.

"Sorry " Arnold chuckled, taking a glimpse at her lips, "I really wanted to tell you, but...I couldn't resist surprising you like that,..showing on your doorstep...your face was priceless."

"Hey!" Helga punched him lightly on the shoulder. Or at least it was lightly for him " Ouch" she winced shaking her hand "you've grown tough Arnoldo,what did they do to you there?" she asked smiling.

"Uh... helping with construction I guess..." Arnold shrugged. He was still getting used to his newly muscled body.

"Well I must say it did you good Mr. Not-so-scrawny-anymore." She smiled. Arnold was blushing. "You should do that arm wrestling thingy with Harold, that would be funny!" Helga laughed.

_Poor Harold... _"Yeaaah... another time perhaps..." Arnold said.

"Coward!" Helga teased him. She put an arm on his shoulder, "Now tell me my dear football-head, what else did you do in San Lorenzo? I'm sure you have plenty of things to tell me."

Of course he complied. While walking down the street, Arnold told her everything him and his parents, well mostly his parents, had done in San Lorenzo for the green-eyed people and their village. Helga seemed truthfully interested, and seemed amazed at everything he was telling her. She was also interested in the village's culture, their traditions and many other things. Arnold found it really to talk to Helga, like Kimberly, she was speaking quite fast, which saved him the effort of having to concentrate every time she spoke, but unlike Gerald's sister, she was not speaking constantly. To Arnold, it was as if she was speaking normally. He enjoyed that very much.

They continued talking like this until they reached Gerald's field. As Arnold expected, the field was empty. It was still a little early for the meeting.

"Soooo we're here" Helga said, "Nobody there, we're alone Arnoldo."

"Yeah it's a little early, we still have like twenty minutes,... so... what d'you wanna do?

"Hmmm... I have some ideas..." she said looking at him with a devil smile, biting her lower lip. She stepped forward, on her tiptoes, whispering seductively in his ears "Perhaps we can... play some baseball!" she shouted happily, stepping back from him.

_Little vixen!_ "Uh... okay... why not but... I don't have a ball, do you?" Arnold wondered, watching her dancing to one of the benches.

"You see Football-head, it's one of the things we changed while you where not here." she said looking at him. She took a key from her pocket and open the bench she was standing next to as if it was a safe. Looking at it Arnold saw it contained several bats, balls and gloves.

"Okay Arnoldo you get a ball and a glove, … I take the bat" she added with a devil smile.

"Couldn't wait to hit me, could you?" Arnold smiled.

"Been a dream of mine for the last three years" She answered playfully, "But enough joking football-head" she added as she took her place, "let's see how rotten you are after three years. C'mon give me your best shot!"

_Oh believe me you don't want my best shot._ "Sure Pataki. Eat this." Arnold replied throwing the ball lightly towards Helga. She hit it easily, sending it of to a far corner of the field. Arnold could have caught it easily too but was not ready to show that to her yet...

"Lame Arnoldo! You can do better!"

"Excuse me if I don't want us to loose that ball already." Arnold chuckled.

"Alright I'll hit softer, but you throw better or I'll get you" she added pointing her bat at him.

They continued their little game, Arnold throwing the ball and Helga hitting it softly enough for Arnold to catch it. This time it was Arnold interrogating Helga. He asked her about every little thing that had changed since he left. The talked about former teachers, new ones, students that left, some that came, unconsciously avoiding a critical topic, their feelings to each other...

"Oh yeah...and I learned to play drums!" Helga told him after some time.

"Really? Why?"

"I don't know..." Helga shrugged, "I guess I was a little frustrated that you left..." she said with a little blush, "and I tried it at some friend's house, turned out to be a very calming thing for me... I'm a little violent sometime " she added with a smile, "so it's my way of letting go of things..."

Arnold felt a pang in his heart at this,... did this mean she had let go of him? The thought was killing him. How would he stand a year with her knowing she was not interested in him anymore?

"But anyway, I got Gerald and Phoebe into it, so we started a band together" Helga continued, waking Arnold from his thoughts.

"Really? What do they do ?"

"Well Gerald sings of course, he's quite good at it... it's interesting really because he really has no difficulty singing with a hoarse rocky voice, or with a clear one...its funny. And Phoebe plays the guitar... it turned out she had begun to learn it a little before you left, she and Gerald were already playing together a little... so...you know when she learned I was playing drums it kind of... followed."

"That's really nice Helga" Arnold tried to smile. "May be I should come and see you play some time."

"Sure Arnold" Helga replied with a smile, "anytime you want."

They continued their little game. Arnold decided to put his thoughts aside and focus the time he was having with Helga. But he knew he would not be able to avoid this subject for too long...

After some time, they were finally joined by Gerald. Upon seeing him, Arnold felt a rush of joy.

"Gerald!"

"Arnold my man! How are you?"Gerald asked hugging his best friend.

"I'm good Gerald and you?"

"My god Arnold we have so much catch up to do! You must tell me everything that happened in San Lorenzo! Why you left so early? How was it? Did you..."

"Hello Gerald." Helga spoke, "I'm here too you know, it's nice to see that after all these years you still know I exist." she added her voice full of sarcasm. Arnold could not help but chuckle at this.

"Oh sorry Helga" Gerald smiled apologetically. "How are you darling?"

"Fine Geraldo" Helga smiled.

After that Gerald threw other questions at Arnold. Arnold was trying his best to answer them all while Helga was smiling at the whole thing, apparently enjoying herself too much to help him out of the situation.

After some time they were joined by other members of the gang. Phoebe was the first to arrive. She would have come with Gerald but she had had to help her mother since they were having some friends for diner that night. Harold, Sid and Stinky turned up together as usual. Rhonda was given a drive by her parents. Sheena, Eugene, Lila and Nadine joined them soon after.

Arnold was really happy to see everyone, but he had to admit he was getting a little annoyed by all the questions his friends were asking, mostly because they were the same over and over again. The only person leaving him alone was Helga. She just watched him and let the others harass him with questions. He did not know how to react to that. On the one hand he was grateful but on the other hand he wondered if she had no interest in him at all.

While trying to answer his friends he searched for her face to try and guess what she was thinking. There their eyes met,...he took the opportunity and mouthed the word "help" to her. She smiled and nodded briefly.

"Oi!" Helga shouted to their friend, "enough with the questions already! Let the poor Football-head breath."

_Thank you!_

"Now, personally,... the only thing I want to know is if Arnoldo here is still fit for baseball,...or if he went a little lazy..." she then added with an mischievous smile. "How about we play a little baseball game?"

_Damn..._

"Oh no Helga I can't" Rhonda replied, "I'm sorry but I don't have the proper shoes or dress and..."

"Oh come of it Rhonda, we'll all play bare-footed and I'm sure you have lots of other dresses so it doesn't matter if this one gets dirty!"

While Helga continued to convince their friend, Arnold thought about what was to come of it. _Okay... I'll have to be very careful with what I do here. No running too fast, no hitting too hard,...you can do it Arnold just focus!_

After Helga had talked everyone into playing a little baseball match, they started dividing into teams. Arnold hoped he could get with Helga so he would be able to talk to her a little more, but Lila crushed it to the ground.

"Hey I have an idea, how about we do boys versus girls? I think it would be ever so funny."

"Hey why not?" Helga agreed with a mischievous smile. _What's she on about?_

Rhonda loved the idea, and Arnold had a feeling she wanted to get back to Harold... Finally everyone agreed on the team compositions and after getting all the gloves they needed to play, they started their little game.

As the girls where queuing to have their turn with the bat, the boys spread out on the field, Harold readying himself to throw the ball like old time.

As soon as the game started, Arnold was brought years in the past. As Harold was throwing the ball to Phoebe, Arnold felt as if he had never left. He was back home, enjoying a normal game with his friends.

The game went on, Arnold being careful not to show too much. He only went to catch the balls sent in his direction, simply trotting towards them. Other wise he spent sometime talking to Gerald.

"Sooo Arnold... You came with Helga..." he asked at some point in the game.

"Yeah I did..." _So what?_ Arnold answered raising an eyebrow.

"And how are things with the pretty lady?"

"Well we're friends..."

Gerald chuckled at that. "Right... _friends_... I'm sure you are."

"It's been three years Gerald, we're both behind that, we're just good friends right now..."

"Oh really Arnold? Are you sure you've moved on? You want to tell me that you feel nothing for the beautiful blonde that is taking her shot at the bat?" Gerald asked pointing to Helga.

She was completely focused on Harold and the ball he was holding. Her hips were singing lightly, her hands holding the bat firmly, and her hair tied up in a pony-tail were falling on her right shoulder. She was just looking fierce and beautiful...

"Well I..." Arnold began.

Then Harold threw the ball and Helga hit it with full force in Arnold and Gerald's direction. _Ooh this one's for me. _Arnold started running a little faster than he should have, waiting for the ball to go down. He then jumped in the air, catching it in his glove before landing back on his feet. By the stares some of his friends were giving him, he might have jumped a little too high too.

"Wow Arnold, that was some catch man!" Sid congratulated him with a slap on the back that Arnold barely felt.

"Willikers! I reckon you did some sport in San Lorenzo Arnold, nice jump!" Stinky added.

More congratulations came from the boys as Harold announced "Alright Helga you're out, and that means it's the end of your turn girls."

As both teams exchanged their places, Helga approached Arnold with a smile

"Nice catch Arnoldo, you got me out, people usually don't"

"Well I... let's say I felt some motivation to do a good catch on this one"

"Really? And what was it?" She asked, her big blue eyes fixed on him.

_You. _"Hum... To prove you I haven't gone lazy?"

"No...it's clear you haven't..." she admitted, biting her lip and looking at his chest before she went to join the rest of the girls. _What does that mean? Sarcasm? No sarcasm? Gah!_

"Hey Arnold you're comin' or what?" Harold finally called him, breaking him out of his thoughts.

As he joined the boys queue, he felt Gerald's gaze on him. His face was telling "just friends right?"

Arnold shrugged and sat on a free place of the bench next to Eugene.

Helga was throwing the ball now, and Sid was the first of the boys to go. Since it was not his turn, Arnold took the time he had to do some catch up with Eugene. It seemed like the boy was drawn to theater and musicals. He was taking part to the high school theater club and taking some dancing course in the city. The scene seemed to be his passion. Arnold felt happy for Eugene, he had a passion and was living it. Arnold's passion was music, but he was not really living it. Sure he had learned to play some traditional instruments in San Lorenzo, but other than that... may be he should try to play again some time, perhaps...perhaps he could joined his friend's band...

The boys took their turn one by one, and after Eugene hit his face with the bat, it was Arnold's turn to go. He took the bat from Eugene, and readied himself for Helga's throw. She was looking at him with a smile on her face, a smile that clearly meant "payback time"...

Arnold smiled internally, nothing Helga would throw at him would be too quick for him to hit. He decided he would miss the first two throws to play along.

He watched carefully as she readied herself for the throw, and with a swing of her leg, she bent forward launching the ball toward Arnold. His brain went in overdrive again, allowing him to watch the graceful move in slow motion. How was she so elegant and utterly graceful when simply throwing a baseball?

As the ball came toward him he deliberately missed it, aiming a little higher than he should.

"Hehe gotcha Football-head! Are you a little rusted?" Helga mocked him playfully.

_You wish... "_You're probably right Helga..." Arnold smiled. "But I believe I have another go, so shoot."

The second throw went exactly the same way as the first one.

"Come on Arnold!" Gerald shouted from one of the bases, "I know she's good, but I'm sure you can hit that!"

_I wish..._

"He's right Arnoldo." Helga said, "I expected some challenge." she smiled.

"Well maybe I'm not that fit any more..." Arnold smiled at her. Helga raised an eyebrow at his remark. She looked at him with a frown, playing the ball in her hand. With a smile she dropped it and proceeded to slowly pick it up, giving Arnold a nice view of her cleavage.

Arnold felt his face grow warn as blood rushed to it. He could not help but stare at her, completely oblivious to the fact that all his friends were also on the field, watching. He was so lost in the sight of her that he did not register her throwing the ball until it was inches away from him. He reflexively swung his bat, hitting the ball.

BANG!

He had hit it with full force, and the ball was now flying high in the air, over buildings and buildings. On the field there was silence.

"Okay I think we can get another ball" Gerald chuckled.

"Wow Arnold! Good one!" Sid exclaimed.

"Amazing shot indeed" Phoebe concurred.

While the others where still complementing him, he saw that Helga was watching him with an incredulous face. Smiling and frowning at the same time, she was clearly asking 'how did you do that?'.

"Okay everyone" Rhonda shouted to be heard, "this was really nice, but I can't stay here any longer, I have a family meeting tonight. But I say how about we throw a little party for Arnold next week, what do you think?"

"It's nice of you Rhonda but you don't have to throw me a party."

"Oh Arnold, you are so naive" Rhonda answered as his friends chuckled at his remark, "we're teenagers! We try to throw a party every time we have an occasion to do so, and you just provided one."

_Riiiiight. _"Hum...okay then. Why not."

"Perfect than, you hear it folks, party at my house next week!" Rhonda exclaimed.

Harold and Sid cheered loudly and others smiled, may be it would not be such a bad thing.

"Okay guys, I have to go too" Eugene told the gang, "It was very nice this little game, and it's been a pleasure seeing you again Arnold."

After Eugene, most of the gang went their own separate way too. Since Arnold's arrival had been a bit of a surprise, not everyone had a free schedule to meet with him. In the end, Helga, Phoebe, Gerald and Arnold decided to go together to go together to a cafe that had opened when Arnold was away.

On the way, Helga was walking next to him, with Gerald and Phoebe showing the way. While walking, Helga turned to Arnold with a smile on her face

"Soooo... Football-head,... why did you purposely missed the first two shots?"

_How the fuck did she ..._


End file.
